Mornings
by McNerdybird
Summary: Ginny Potter just does not do mornings; when combined with a hungry toddler things can get irksome.


**A/N: Here's something different: a little one-shot. I'm planning to do more of these in the future and if you have any suggestions, feel free to ask. Thanks to gryffindormischief for being an inspiration!**

* * *

 **2000, Autumn**

Teddy Lupin was no longer a baby. At two (and a half) years old and blessed with the often times irritating ability of speech, he was no longer the tiny baby that Ginny could cradle easily in her arms. Now Teddy would throw tantrums with actual physical force; not that this happened much. He was, overall, a good toddler, playing nicely and calmly and going to sleep whenever Harry finished reading from The Tales of Beedle the Bard...or at least when Ginny finished reading it after Harry fell asleep halfway through. No, they were lucky to have him. Plus it was only for the weekends, Ginny often thought smugly, pitying Teddy's grandmother, Andromeda, who had him for five days a week.

One such weekend, Teddy, currently blonde-haired, was eagerly getting ready for his breakfast as a sleepy-eyed Ginny fixed him into his high chair. He giggled in anticipation of some food and wriggled in his chair as Ginny tied her fluffy white dressing gown tighter around her. The cat meowed around her ankles expectantly. "One overlord at a time please," she said, groggily. Ginny just did not do mornings; how Harry managed to get up and out to work before she even got up was beyond her realm of understanding. Didn't her husband of a couple of months sleep?

She chuckled to herself over an anecdote from Ron. Evidently, Harry did sleep, only it was at his desk at work. She didn't envy him. Training didn't start until ten, so she was able to get up later. Ginny sighed heavily and, rubbing sleep out of her eyes, opened a white-painted cupboard in their warm, cosy kitchen. "I'm hungry Gin-Gin!" Teddy wailed from his chair and the sound cut sharply through her tired head, and she winced. Ginny looked around automatically; Gin-Gin, a curse bestowed upon her by her husbands' beloved godson, was now a name commonly used by sniggering Weasleys at the weekly Sunday meals. It appeared to act like a Taboo: whoever said it could expect the impressive wrath of Ginny Potter. But not Teddy...he was just too adorable to destroy.

"It's coming Ted," she promised blindly grabbing a tin of his food and plonking it down on the counter with a metallic bang. A flick of her wand later, and the tin popped open and the brown contents sailed happily into the bowl of the toddler. He looked at it, then commented, "yuck. I don' wanna eat that."

Ginny frustratingly brushed her messy morning hair aside and gave her most charming smile to the little man. "Teddy, honey. You have to eat it. It's your breakfast, for big two-and-a-half-year-olds. Grandma would not be pleased to hear you won't eat your breakfast." Teddy eyes widened in fear and his hair turned blue at the mention of his Grandma's anger, who he both loved and was scared by. Andromeda could be really strict at times. He glanced unhappily at his bowl and appeared to believe that nothing was worth his Grandma's anger, for he scooped a bit of the sloppy meat onto his small, 'Teddy-proof', plastic spoon. He plunged it into his mouth, and spat it out again immediately, with the face of one who drank Xenophilius Lovegood's Gurdyroot Infusion. "Yuck!" he shouted, throwing his spoon away, as an exasperated Ginny went tumbling after it, the cat following to investigate this new object on his kitchen floor. "Is disgusting!" Teddy's hair flashed to a green.

Ginny had one more ploy left: it was a well known fact that Teddy admired, some even suggested fancied, his red-headed carer. George often joked that Harry was losing Ginny to Teddy, before he suddenly found himself surrounded by his own flying bogeys. She decided to gamble and hoped she didn't have to result to her last resort to win the battle against the defiant toddler: eating a bit of the slop herself. She brought back her winning smile for added effect. The smile smile that when employed on her husband would leave a dopey grin on his face, and that had been used in the past to encourage him to buy her something. "Teddy, I think you should eat it."

"No, is disgusting." He turned his small nose up.

"It's not disgusting Ted. This is my favourite food."

He looked at her face in wonder. "Really?"

"Oh yes, it's lovely. You really should eat it."

Teddy seemed to consider this, then swallowed another mouthful of the mulch. Ginny tried to stop herself shivering in disgust. _Why did baby food have to look so disgusting?_ She was glad _she_ didn't have to eat it.

* * *

"Honey, I'm back." The jangle of keys announced Ginny's return to the quaint little cottage, and she strode into the kitchen, a bag of warm sausage and chips held against her chest. "I bring food," she called, dumping it on the table.

"You didn't eat it already did you?" Harry shouted back, from the living room. "Your appetite is quite infamous!"

"Watch it or I will!" she retorted, sneaking a chip anyway. Harry appeared in the kitchen and gave her a welcoming kiss that made her heart flutter. A cannonball hit her in the side, as Teddy hugged her tightly. "Gin-Gin!" he yelled happily.

"Merlin Ted, I only went in to the village to get some food." She hugged the youngster in thanks.

"Teddy has a surprise for you Gin," Harry said, trying but failing to hide a grin.

"What is it?" asked Ginny warily, hoping it was not like the time he surprised her with a picture of the three of them on her bedroom wall. At least, that was what he had said it was supposed to be. It took several weeks to find the correct paint removal solution.

"I made you dinner." Teddy bounded over to the worktop like an excited springbok on a caffeine high and pulled out a plate covered in shiny tinfoil. He proudly placed it in front of Ginny and retrieved her a spoon. A warning light started to go off in her head...

Cautiously, she removed the covering to greet the slop that she had fed Teddy that morning. "Oh, lovely Ted."

"You said it was your favourite, so I made it for you."

"Thanks. You know what, I just bought some food so I think I might eat that first then..." But she trailed off as she saw the shimmery tears develop in the little boy's eyes. His lip wobbled. Ginny couldn't resist that face.

"But it's your favourite," he mumbled. Ginny looked pleadingly at her husband, who had an annoyingly smug grin on his face. "You did say it was your favourite," he added, practically sealing the coffin of her situation. She'd have to get him back for that...

"Okay, okay," Ginny relented, something she would do for so few. "I'll eat it." She shakily scooped some up in her spoon and quickly choked it down. It tasted as horrible as it looked, like meat and cat biscuits. But from what animal the meat came from, she could not tell. Perhaps swamp monster, given the taste. _Alright Ginny, time to use your Weasley appetite and hawk it all down, quick as possible._

Ginny struggled valiantly through the horrific meal, resisting the urge to throw up as Teddy beamed, watching her happily devour his masterful creation. The cat meowed at her. Only when she had finished did Harry speak up. "Hey Gin, what cupboard did you get the food from this morning?" She looked at him curiously; that was an odd thing to say. The alarm reappeared when she saw his grin.

"This one...here- oh my god!" She clapped her hands to her face and opened the cupboard to see it lined with yellow tins...of cat food. "Oh Teddy...I'm so sorry for making you eat cat food. I was tired and I-I -" Teddy looked rather confused. "- And - I - just - ate - some." She rushed to the toilet to be sick. "I really, really, really hate mornings," she told Harry weakly, as he held her hair for her.


End file.
